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Committee adopts amendment to clarify confidentiality for tenants reporting domestic violence (HF2296)
Summary
The House Finance and Policy Committee on March 18 adopted an amendment to House File 22 96 to make explicit that confidentiality protections for tenants experiencing domestic violence override prior general release forms; the bill as amended was referred to the Committee on Judiciary, Finance and Civil Law.
The House Finance and Policy Committee on March 18 adopted an amendment to House File 22 96 that clarifies how landlords must handle documentation from tenants who seek to break leases because of domestic violence.
The delete‑all A1 amendment, carried in committee by Representative Howard, reduces the bill to a single, narrowly drawn provision that makes explicit that the confidentiality protections in Minnesota law override previously signed general release forms. Representative Howard said the change reflects stakeholder agreement reached between Minnesota Legal Aid and the Minnesota Multi Housing Association.
Ron Ellwood, testifying for Minnesota Legal Aid, described the problem the amendment targets: under Minnesota Statutes §504B.206, tenants who present documentation of domestic violence are entitled to confidentiality, but landlords and property managers have in some cases argued that preexisting general release forms allow disclosure. "I don't think anyone thinks that that's the law," Ellwood said, and the amendment simply seeks to "make it absolutely crystal clear that the provisions in §504B.206 requiring confidentiality override any other general release of information form or any other priorly signed documents."
Committee Chair Kozlowski put the amendment and then the bill as amended to a vote. The amendment was adopted and the committee voted to refer HF 22 96 as amended to the Committee on Judiciary, Finance and Civil Law for further consideration.
The referral sends the narrower statutory clarification to the committee that handles civil and judicial law issues; committee members and the bill’s proponents said they consider the measure a technical fix to eliminate any confusion that could endanger tenants who have provided sensitive documentation.
The next step is consideration in the Judiciary, Finance and Civil Law Committee.
